Filing book for data cards



4 A. L. CHRISTIANSEN El AL 2,191,425

FILING BOOK FOR DATA CARDS Filed Sept. 3, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 A. L. CHRISTiANSEN ET AL 2,191,425

FILING BOOK FOR DATA CARDS s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 5, 1937 Patented Feb. 20, 1940 FILING B Albert L. 7 Chris ES ATE NT OFFICE 00K FOR; DATA calms" tiansen, Juliet; and: Lucius J;

Boynton,. Lockport, 111:, Application September 3, 1937, SerialNo. 162,361);

4 Claims. (Cl; 125-34 This invention relates to-a filing facility for cards upon which information isrecorded, and

the object is toprovideunitstoragerfacili the form of books which-may be easily handled. .for. reference and in each of which alargenumber of cards may be replaceably introduced, left ly accessible andstoredin a. minimum of without obscuring distinguishingmarks by they are, respectively, identified.

sustaining structure, a flat plate-like back margins of which the covers are, respectively, hinged, and a plurality of leaves provided on one or both sides with retaining-cleats through of which a relatively large number of cards may be racked in overlapping mutually sustaining position, with a portion of eachcard exposed sufliciently to afford inspection of an identifying number, character or other marking without, disturbing-the cards, and with the resultant stack of cards readily separable at any card for exposure of more of itssurface when itbecomesnecessaryto use information. recorded thereonor data in addition. to that which it already.

to whichend, the manner of confining the cardsupon the surface of the leafis such as to, present the surfaceof a card, when itis exposed by ing the stack, in condition tobe written A plurality of. these leaves are mounted-between the covers of the book by pivotally anchoring 7 each leafto the back through means of a rigid marginalstrip that is hinged to thebody leaf the pivotal anchoragebeing effected through means of slots inv the strips that receive staples positioned transverselyv of andupstanding from the back and retained in the slots byreplace: able rods rocketed in the hinging strips so that H when a number or" leaves are assembled be rendered self'sustaining against sagging gravity.

The invention resides in certain featuresofconstruction andicooperaticn of'the assembledparts hereinafter pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 isoa perspective view of armor a, The invention proceeds upon, the principle of ccnstructingthe unit storage facility inthe form of. a book comprising cover boards of rigid self-' storage book embodying the s the, present invention. I

Figure 2 isla sectional vi'ewof the back of the book and portions of covers hinged thereto, and shows in plan a rigid upstanding anchoring staple mounted upon the back. s

Figure .3 is a plan view'of an index'cardspecially' constructed for mounting upon the leaves forming part of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a section taken from side to side: of one of the book leaves and showing a card and, the, two. cleats through. means of which it" is, mounted upon the leaf. I v

Figure 5 is a detail view, onan' enlarged scale, of a portion or. one of the leaves, with one 'of its cleats and. the means through which the leaf may be pivotally anchored to the back.

Figure 6 is asection on the line 656-452? of Figure 5;showing the manner ofstacking cards on opposite sides ofthe leaf; the cards being somewhat spread apartto permit them to be distinguished'individually and the better to show their relation in the stack. i

Figure 71s a bottomend view of abook, minus one of; its covers and having apluralityof leaves assembled therewith and grouped thereon in a manne'rpermitted by their special hinge structures so that the several leaves will lie fiat one upon another when the book is opened;

I' represents the back, 2 the covers and t leaves of the card filing book forming the subject matter of; the invention. In Figure 1, one of the leaves has its upper portion broken away to disclose the cover structure behind it. Covers 2 are united to the! back I through the medium of hinges 4 comprising, in addition to their pintles 4a, aback plate 5 and'two cover-attaching plates 6'. Covers 2 are of board-like structure, made of any suitable rigid material and are reinforced against flexuregby thejhinge plate 6; -The back comprises a ,flat plate Ia reinforced by the plate 5 which likewise constitutes a rigid structure so'that the back and covers are adapted to stand on end and sustain the card-storing leaves between them.

The leaves 3v are assembled in the book through means. of anchor strips '1 constituting the inner marginal portions ofthe leaves hinged to the leaves, at 8' and pivotally anchored to staples 9' through means of slots l0. In the anchor strips T are replaceable rods ll, of which there is one socketed'in the innermost marginof' each anchor strip and which rodengages the" strip with the staples 9 where the rod" crosses-the aforesaid slots. Staples 9 extend-transversely of the back everal features of ties in readi' space which to the means record bears;

divide upon. 30;

of the V rigidly in the 40,

under ('1 card 55 I, being conveniently positioned by having their ends 9a headed into the hinge plate 5; and they are oblately arched so that they extend outwardly from as well as transversely to the back of the book. Their attachment affords sufficient rigidity, under the gravity load of the leaves and the cards which they bear, to prevent sagging of the leaves when the closed book is stood onend. The upstanding character of these staples, their extension outwardly and transversely of the back and the special hinging effect afforded by the anchor plates I, pintles 8 and pivotal anchorages I0 and II combine to avoid interference between the hinges 8 of the several leaves and permit the leaves, notwithstanding card-stacln'ngcleats I2 provided thereon, to lie in flat superposed position with any selected leaf presented for convenient inspection when the book is opened thereat.

To mount the cards upon the leaves of a filing book constructed as above described, each leaf is provided upon at least one and preferably both of its faces with. a pair of undercut stacking cleats I2, each cleat being spaced from the leaf by a strip I2a and being united to the leaf through means of rivets I3 along one edge of the cleat,

with a spacing shim I4 that serves as a cardarresting stop at the lower end of each cleat and preferably a shim I5 at the upper end of each cleat as well, in order to prevent upward escape of the cards when. a column of cards is lifted. Each cleat is thus provided with an under space throughout its length but closed top and bottom, into which tangs I6 on card I! may be introduced as a means of holding the cards in place. Tangs I6 are near the ends of the cards though leaving uninterrupted card margins I'Ia beyond them and the cleats are spaced appropriately to underlie these card-ends I'Ia while receiving the tangs and leave intermediate portions of the card spaced from the leaf upon which the cards are mounted and subject to slight depression of any card while grasping the upper exposed margin of a desired card at an intermediate balancing point and drawing it, together with those stacked above it, upwardly to expose the full surface of the selected card to inspection or amendment of its record.

Inasmuch as the tangs of each card, in entering the under spaces of the cleats, are deflected from the plane of the card and cross the lower 60" edge of the next higher card, these tangs serve to limit the telescoping of all cards above the bottommost card (which is arrested through its tangs by the bottomshims I4) and the tangs of each card thus become the means of causing any card selected to be inspected and all those which lie above it to move upward in column. The spacing of the tangs a selected distance above the bottom edge of the card which carries them will determine the projection above each card of the upper margin of the next higher card upon which indexing or other marks of card identification are placed and kept permanently in view. The cards are stacked by introducing them in any desired order upon the cleats and pressing each card downwardly until its lower edge is arrested by the tangs of the next lower card. The introduction of a card in an intermediate position is practicable at all times by merely rais- 7 .ing' the column at and above any card sufficiently to admit beneath it the card that is to be introduced. Similarly, any card can be removed when desired and the remaining cards restored to compactly teles'coped stacking.

, The card filing device of book type herein described affords special advantages in the filing of cards upon which are kept records of arrival and departure of railway cars as well as disposal of said cars between arrival and departure, the nature of their cargo and other data that may be required to be recorded pursuant to an established system; and particularly such a device when used in a system that involves introduction of a new card for each railway car that arrives and the disposal of such card, such as permanently filing it away after the departure of the car in order that it may not encumber the working filing system.

Referring more in detail to the preferred embodiment of the invention and as shown more clearly in Figure 2, the back I may be built up of theback plate Ia of fiber board or any suitable rigid material, the butt-plates 6 of hinges 4, and the face plate 5 already referred to and into which'the heads 9a of staples 9 may be countersunk and riveted. Similarly, the leaves 3 may have their butt-plates 8a, of hinges 8 formed independently of the cleats I2, and the latter may be laminated by the use of strips 1211 through which pass the rivets I3 in providing the under spacing for the tangs I6 and shims I4-I5 which close the ends of the under spaces.

An important identifying characteristic of the preferred embodiment of the invention resides in the employment of the anchoring strips hinged to both the leaves 3 and the staple 9 and oil'- setting the inner margins of the leaves to planes which permit them to assume parallel positions, one above another, when the book is open, as shown in Figure 7, and particularly freedom of the strips I to vary the elevation of each leaf by assuming an appropriate angular position or by the amplitude of movement permitted by its slots I0 relatively to staples 9. If approximately all the leaves were turned to one side, the offsetting strips I, which at the time engaged a relatively low portion of an arched staple 9, would be permitted by the lost motion afforded by the depth of its slots I0 to raise the leaf to a level above the very considerable number of leaves which must be accommodated beneath it; and, conversely, the lost motion spaces I!) will permit foreshortening of the offset effected by the strip 7 of those intermediate leaves, the anchorages of which occupy intermediate positions upon the arched staples.

A further important function served by the particular manner of mounting the leaves in the book arises from the ready releasability of the leaf, preferably at its anchorage between the strip I and the staple 9, and the removal of the leaf from the book when convenience requires or the rearrangement of the order of the leaves in the book, and to permit which the anchoring strips are preferably made all of one width.

It is noted that in the superposing of one leaf upon another in the open position of the book, hinge 8, which joins an anchoring strip to the body of a leaf, will assist in spacing a superposed leaf sufficiently to avoid rubbing or displacement of thecards on the leaves.

What is claimed is:

1. In a card filing device of the book type, hingedly connected back and cover elements adapted to open into a single fiat plane, and leaf elements; said leaf elements comprising rigid board-like bodies having card embracing means near their inner and outer longitudinal margins and having at their inner margins inherently rigid anchoring strips hingedly connected to the bodies of the leaf elements and anchored to the back ofthe book by curved securing means and adapted to offset each of the hinges which connect them with the leaf bodies to a plane that permits each of the bodies, when the book is entirely open, to lie flat with respect toan accumulation of leaves beneath it'and thereby offset in- Wardlytoward the back, each leaf relatively to the one beneath it, and thereby avoid interference oflthe card-engaging means on any leaf with the card-engaging means on the leaf beneath it.

2. A card filing device as described in claim 1, in which the anchorage between the strips and the back is constructed to permit swingingmovement at the anchorage, together with lost motion between the strips and the anchorage in the direction of the radius of such swinging movement together with bodily movement of the leaves and their anchoring strips in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the fully open book.

3. A card filing device as describedin claim 1, in which the anchorage of the strips to the back comprises a slot in each of the strips and a staple on the back engaging in said slots; the staple being confined in the slots by a rod socketed in the margin of each of the strips and crossing the slot behind the staple; and the slots being elongated in the direction of the radius of swinging movement of the leaves and affording variation in the radial cifsetof the body of the leaves through means of said strips and the staple being of low arcuate or oblate; form and affording an amplitude of movement in a direction perpendicular to the back which is relatively small compared with the movement afiorded by the sliding of the anchoring strips on the staple.

4. In a card filing device of the book type, the combination of hingedly connected back and cover elements adapted to open into a single flat plane, leaf elements comprising rigid board-like bodies having means thereon for secu ring cards, rigid anchoring strips hingedly connected to said leaf elements adjacent their inner margins, curved anchoring means, connected to the back of said book and to said anchoring strips and adapted to offset each of the hinges which connect said strips to said leaf bodies to a plane that permits each of the bodies, when the book is entirely open, to lie flat with respect to an accumulation of leaves beneath it.

ALBERT L. CHRISTIANSEN. LUCIUS J. BOYNTON. 

